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Researchers Have Uncovered More Evidence that Smokers could be Protected from the Deadly coronavirus.

Fewer than five per cent of 441 COVID-19 patients who needed to be admitted to an Italian hospital were smokers.

The scientists described it as a ‘very low’ number, given that a quarter of the general population are known to be hooked on cigarettes.It suggests smokers are less likely to catch the disease – a theory that has emerged over the past few weeks from several global studies.

But once smokers are in hospital, they may be more likely to see their disease rapidly progress and lead to death, according to some evidence.

The new study found half of infected smokers died – compared to 35 per cent of the rest of the patients.Experts are struggling to knock down mounting evidence that suggests an apparent protective effect from cigarettes, which has been described as ‘weird’. Two weeks ago a review of the literature by University College London also found a ‘lower than expected’ rate of smokers among COVID-19 patients.